EVAN

He was lost in thought, breathing in the fresh, cold air outside, when Evan heard the car approaching and rose to stand.

The driver opened the back door for Yena and she stepped out of the car.

Evan sighed. Somehow she’d gotten even more beautiful.

It was incredible, how that was happening…

Yes, Evan had been loving Yena for a long time. But her transformation recently was nothing less than amazing.

When they were in high school, his feelings for Yena made him act like a jerk to her sometimes. He just hadn’t really known what to do with himself around her. For a long time, he felt like it was wrong, because she was his sister.

But Yena was adopted, and so it wasn’t quite the same. And when she left home to run away with Nolan, that was a real wakeup call.

Evan had waited too long and he’d missed his chance.

It all happened so fast. Yena was still only eighteen, and the prince had just come out of nowhere and swept her off her feet.

And Evan thought he had lost Yena for good. He had just given up hope that he’d ever have another chance with her, when out of the blue, Yena called one day and said she was divorcing Nolan.

And that was when Evan felt like he was coming back to life.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since.

Then there she was, standing before him, like a miracle. Yena’s golden curls had grown really long. Evan had the goofy thought that she looked like a mermaid goddess.

He descended the steps to meet her in the pathway and pulled her into a big hug.

Evan took a deep breath in.

Her scent was incredible. Yeah, there was something sweet like lavender in her hair, but he was picking up on her natural scent, too. Her wolf smell.

She smelled like fresh air and strawberry candy.

It made him want to taste her.

But the smell of another wolf was on her, too. Nolan’s scent… it was lingering, not just on her clothes, but on her body, too.

Evan had been feeling cold, standing out on the porch. But smelling that rich jerk’s stench on Yena had him hot and angry all of a sudden.

He pulled away, to get a little distance and a breath of fresh air… to snap out of thinking about Yena and Nolan. It was over with them, he reminded himself...

He couldn’t help but wonder, though, when was the last time she had been with the prince.

Why else would she be smelling like him, still?

But then she looked up at Evan, and seeing her sweet, familiar smile, remembering how much he’d missed it, made the petty jealous thoughts start fading away.

Yena had really grown up. She’d grown into herself.

She’d always been beautiful, but now…

She was just stunning.

Her teeth started chattering and he had to laugh. He felt bad for keeping her out in the cold, and rushed her into the warmth of the house.

YENA

Tina had me a in a bear hug as soon as I stepped over the threshold.

“Ah!” I couldn’t help but shout as she smothered me a bit. “Good to see you too, Tina…”

She laughed and apologized, then started pulling my coat off my shoulders.

It was warm in the house, where she’d been cooking and baking in the kitchen, and Peter had just refueled a big fire in the fireplace.

And Peter was next in line for a hug.

“Welcome home, my daughter.” He held me in his arms like I was back from the dead.

“How are you, Peter?” I asked.

He took a step back and gave me a closed-mouth smile, with his eyes going squinty.

“I’m wonderful, Yena. How are you doing?”

“Oh, it’s been a crazy day. But I guess I’m good, now I’m here.”

Evan and Tina were still standing there watching me, with big smiles plastered on their faces.

It started to feel funny, like I was on display.

I laughed. “Stop looking at me like that, you all!”

Tina patted my shoulder and said, “We’re just so happy that you’re home.”

A tiny hiccup betrayed that she was holding back some tears. Happy tears, for sure.

She turned and retreated to the kitchen, calling back to us as she went that she was going to set the table for dinner now.

“It’s pretty late for dinner,” I said, looking at my watch. The day had flown by, and it was almost nine o’clock.

“We waited for you,” Evan said. “And it was worth the wait.”

He winked at me.

“I’ll let you get settled in, my dear.” Peter said, smiling and looking back and forth between me and Evan. Then he headed back over to the fireplace, where I saw he’d been smoking a pipe.

“Come on,” Evan said. “Your stuff beat you here and I got some of it set up in your room. I want to show you where everything went.”

EVAN

“Oh, my Goddess,” Yena was saying as they climbed the stairs up to their bedrooms. “All the food smells so amazing!”

Evan chuckled.

“What, haven’t they been feeding you anything there at the palace? I did think you were looking really skinny.”

They reached the top of the stairs and Yena paused to look back at him.

“Skinny?!” she shouted, laughing. “That’s a first. And yes, they feed me, but nothing really compares to Tina’s home cooking.”

Evan nodded, thinking that maybe he took his mom and her great cooking for granted. It was all he’d ever known. But Yena always seemed to take more pleasure in her food than he did.

“Ready?” he asked, stepping over to her closed bedroom door.

Yena did a silly smile and clapped her hands together.

“I honestly still can’t believe I’m back here, Evan. It’s so weird. And yes, open it!”

He turned the knob and swung open the door to Yena’s little bedroom.

She gasped as she walked into the room. She put one hand to her mouth, and one over her heart.

“Oh, Evan, this is so nice. Did you do all this?”

He shrugged. “Me and Mom.”

Evan and Tina had given her room a little makeover.

They bought her fresh bedding and pillows, made everything look nice and perfect. Put some twinkle lights up around the window and made a Welcome Home sign that they hung over her bed.

She walked over to the bed and picked up the box of chocolates that Evan had left on the pillow. He’d tied a shiny red ribbon around it.

“You guys are so sweet,” she said, turning back to look at him. He was standing in the doorway.

Yena rushed over and put her hands to his face. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, beaming at him. “This means a lot.”

Evan’s heart skipped a beat.

“It’s nothing,” he said, waving her off.

His throat and ears felt warm. He looked down at his feet and hoped she didn’t notice that she’d made him blush.